Hurricane Glass Decor

A very simple, yet elegant, way to add to your holiday decor is with a hurricane glass. I got mine at Michaels and used the ornaments that were left over from the wreath I made. 

Just adding the ornaments to the hurricane glass gives a pop of Christmas color and adds to the decor. It can be placed on a mantel or a shelf. I have mine as a center piece for my kitchen table. This is so easy anyone can do it! (For Easter I add eggs and a colorful spring bow!) 

Ornament Wreath (Larger)

The process is very similar tot he mini ornament wreath. The main differences are the size of the wreath form, and I used two sizes of ornaments. 

I started with a 12 inch wreath form and a few boxes of larges glass ornaments (red, green, and pearl) and three boxes of mini glass ornaments (red, green, and pearl). I removed the tops of all the ornaments. 

I started again with gluing the ribbon to the wreath for hanging.

Next I began the process of gluing the ornaments down. I started by gluing the larger ornaments all around the outer form of the wreath. 

Next I glues large ornaments on the inner portion of the wreath (you can change this up if you want the end result to have more of an opening. Change it by either gluing all smaller ornaments around the inner portion, or alternating smaller and larger ornaments, it really has to do with your preference!).

After I had the outer and inner portions covered, I began gluing large ornaments all around the form, until it was covered. 

Next I began placing the smaller ornaments in the areas that had gaps left from the larger ornaments (I was trying to keep colors separated and random). 

Now the wreath is all done! I could have added snowflakes like the other, but I preferred the simple ornaments without an embellishment. If you wanted you could add a bow to the ribbon or directly on the ornaments. 

Thanks for stopping by!

DIY Ornament Wreath

I love wreathes, and love making them! Today is a simple wreath that you can make to spruce up your home during the Christmas season. I started with a small styrofoam wreath form (from Michaels), 3 packages of multi-colored mini ornaments (Target), ribbon (bought a while ago from Wal-Mart), and silver tinsel (mine was from Target, but any retail store will have it). 

You can wrap your wreath in garland prior to adding the ornaments (for fill), however I did not do it that way. I wanted to change it up and add my own little flavor to the wreath while adding a common element. 

First, I took the ribbon and looped it around the wreath and hot glued it down, for hanging. 

Next, I started by hot gluing the ornaments in a random order to the wreath form, doing my best to leave the smallest gaps possible. I went all around the wreath form until it was completely covered in ornaments (I used 3 packages of the mini ornaments). 

After I had it covered, there were gaps to fill. I wanted some sparkle in these gaps, so this is where the tinsel came in. I started by placing the tinsel all around the outer portion of the wreath and hot gluing it down. I repeated the process for  the inner portion of the wreath. The I slowly began cutting 1-3 inch pieces of tinsel and placing it in the gaps on the wreath, adding a little bit of hot glue to hold it in its place. I liked this method best because I had control over how much tinsel is seen, and where. I used the entire length of the tinsel (a small mini tinsel pack from Target). 

Last I used three of the snowflake ornaments that came with the mini ornament pack, and glued them to the left side of the wreath. This added a last addition of sparkle, as well as a nice element for the eye! 

I love the end result!! 

DIY Shadow Box Frame

I always LOVE going into the picture frame aisle to see what sort of frames have come out now. I am especially fond of shadow box frames. I have always wanted to make one, and to my surprise, it was even easier than I thought it would be! 

I picked up a 5x7 frame with a matt (from Target). I used my Cameo to cut out the words "Merry Christmas" at 1 1/2 inches, in dark green vinyl. Then I cut out a Christmas ornament at 3 inches (from top to bottom) in dark red. I peeled the excess vinyl and used my blue painters tape to apply the images where I wanted them on the glass.  

The frame was fine with just these images, but I had cut out this 3D poinsetta and really loved it, so I used foam to add it to the bottom of the frame. I love this frame and plan on using it with the Santa photo of my kids this year! 

You can add any embellishments to the frame (gems or stickers) in place of the vinyl and poinsetta. Just get creative! 

Quick Christmas Printable

I wanted to show how easy you can take a Free Printable, and make it your own! 

I got this Printable from http://sassysites.blogspot.com/2011/12/35-free-christmas-printables.html

I used white cardstock and printed it as an 8 1/2 x 11 document. 

After I printed my image, I started by tracing the word Christmas with my Scotch glue pen. Then I poured red glitter over and shook off the excess into the contained. I repeated the process with the word Merry. 

I used blue glitter on the word Mistletoe and green on the word Noel. (Repeating the same process as Merry Christmas)

Next I wanted to add some gems (found at Michaels) on the center of the snowflakes. I added a red to the center of the red snowflake, and clear to the blue snowflake. Then I added three green gems to the three green snowflakes. 

Now I have taken this cute printable and made it into a glimmering piece of art that is unique to me! This took me 10 minutes to make (that included taking the pictures). 

I am including a second printable that I found on Pinterest, but do not have the link for. For this one I simply used gold glitter on the star and added to clear gems to the dots for the i's in praising. Then I used red glitter for the word angel. 

Note* All of the glitter I used was fine glitter by Martha Stewart, however, any fine glitter will do. 

Vinyl Decor

I decided I wanted to use this cute pink vinyl I have had to spruce up my Cameo! I used the Silhouette Studio for both designs. The heart design was a freebie, and I purchased the font (Scrap Calligraphy). 

I started by selecting the heart image and increasing the size. Next, using the Scrap Calligraphy font, I typed out my name, and increased the size. I had the hearts and capital letter are cut around 3 inches and my name around 1 inch for the lower case. 

Next I used my Silhouette to cut the images. I really like that the Cameo tells you the exact blade depth and settings you need, versus the Cricut where you have to set it accordingly. Now I used my Cameo, but you can use any die cutting machine to cut vinyl (and you don't need a mat even though I used one for this project!

After the images were cut, I peeled off the excess vinyl from the backing and discarded it. 

For the next part you can use transfer paper, or blue painters tape like I used (a tip from another crafter). I simply placed tape over the vinyl and removed it from the backing sheet. 

Then I positioned the vinyl on the Cameo where I wanted and pulled the painters tape away (it peeled off so easily!) .

Now I have a Cameo that fits my personality and adds some fun to my crafting space! Remember you can use vinyl for home decor, scrapbook pages, and cards as well! 

Thanks for stopping by!!